Rihanna on Chris Brown: I'm going to do what I want

Say what you will about Rihanna's collaboration and seeming reconciliation with her ex Chris Brown, who pleaded guilty to one count of assault in connection to an argument he had with the Barbadian pop star in 2009, but the singer is hearing none of it.

She tells Elle magazine in its May issue of the backlash to her decision to work with Brown that she understands people have their opinions, but she's not going to let them sway her.

"The bottom line is that everyone thinks differently. It's very hard for me to accept, but I get it," Rihanna says in the interview. "People end up wasting their time on the blogs or whatever, ranting away, and that's all right. Because tomorrow I'm still going to be the same person. I'm still going to do what I want to do.”

Living through the fallout of her relationship with Brown, she says, has given her a new sense of freedom.

“It's embarrassing. But that was my opening," she says. "That was my liberation, my moment of bring it. […] Now you know that, so you can say what you want about it. I don't have anything to hide.”

As for what the future holds, Rihanna's still optimistic about becoming a mom...but she's got to find the right man first, she tells Elle. And don't think that'll come easier because she's a well-coiffed superstar:

"It's hard for everybody!" she says. "I don't think it has anything to do with being famous. There's just a major drought out there. […] But I just need to find the person who balances me out, because then things like my schedule won't matter. I've done it before, so I know I can do it again.”